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MUED 376: Choral Music, Materials & Techniques  

​MIDTERM EXAM 
Suggested Due Date: October 30, 2018 - midnight 

NAME___Doug Ritcher_________ DATE_10-20-18_

 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS: help each other, share ideas, strategies 

and definitions! 
 
Part I: ​From O% to 100% in 10 Rehearsals of 15 
Minutes: 
One Suggested Sequence of Rehearsal Threads 

Directions:   
● Take the piece you are doing for VMRC and design a full 
lesson sequence as indicated below, based on a 
fifteen-minute rehearsal.  
● Modify each class as needed from this template. ​Add or 
delete activities and chunks as needed​. 
● Do not do a Direct Instruction Script for this 
assignment​, ​only outline the activities and chunking that 
will complete each rehearsal thread.  
● Be creative and include lots of kinesthetic and learning 
experiences.  
● Please spend no more than 40 minutes on this part of 
the exam 
● Please feel free to work with others on this exam! Share 
answers, 
Rehearsal 1 – “Hook” and introduction to the piece (rote 
introduction, and rote to note in the music.) 

Time: (.5/.5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome ​Good Morning VMRC! The piece we will be working on

today is:_”The First Noel”____ My rehearsal threads today are:
Understanding tone sets used and solfege

Transition statement: We will start with tone sets

Time: (4/5/15) Activity 2: Babble

Chunk 1: Repeat the tone set m r d r m f s after me on “nu”

Chunk 2: Repeat tone set la ti do ti la so after me on “nu”

Chunk 3: Repeat the tone set do so fa mi after me on “nu”

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Transition statement: Let’s try that using solfege

Time: (4.5/9.5/15) Activity 3: Adding solfege

Chunk 1: Repeat the tone set mi re do re mi fa so after me on solfege

Chunk 2: Repeat tone set la ti do ti la so after me on solfege

Chunk 3: Repeat the tone set do so fa mi after me on solfege

 
Transition statement: Now let’s put that these sets into the melody!

Time: (5/14.5/15) Activity 4: Singing the melody

Chunk 1: Repeat first 8 bars after me (solfege)

Chunk 2: Repeat second 8 bars after me (solfege)

Chunk 3: ​Sing the entire melody on solfege

 
Transition statement: Great work...

Time: (.5/15/15) Activity 5: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Today we became more familiar with the tone sets in “The First Noel”
as well as learned the solfege for the melody

Rehearsal 2 – Section A - mapping melody, harmony and text 

Time: (.5/.5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: ​Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to _page 27____ in

your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: ​Awareness of harmony and
Text
 
Transition statement: Let’s look at the Melody line first though

Time: (3/3.5/15) Activity 2: Reviewing melody on solfege and “nu”

Chunk 1: We all sing melody on “nu”, I do hand signs and VMRC mirrors their
best.

Chunk 2: Now let’s sing it on solfege, I only sign do

 
Transition statement: Let’s add some text
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Time: (2/5.5/15) Activity 3: Text

Chunk 1: I sing 4 bars on text and repeat

Chunk 2: “”...

Chunk 3: We all sing on text “try to sign do with me”

 
Transition statement: Let’s move to the tenor part

Time: (5/10.5/15) Activity 4: Tenor harmony

Chunk 1: Tone set babble

Chunk 2: 4 bars at a time repeat after me on solfege

Chunk 3: Sing whole thing on text (sign do!)

 
Transition statement: Let’s get some practice on that

Time: (4/14.5/15) Activity 5: Tenor harmony practice (all on text but sign do)

Chunk 1: Tenors, Altos, Basses on tenor part, Sopranos on soprano part

Chunk 2: Tenors, Basses on tenor part alto and soprano on soprano part

Chunk 3: Tenors, altos on tenor part, soprano and bass on soprano part

Chunk 4: Tenors on tenor part, everyone else on soprano part

Time: (.5/15/15) Activity 6: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Great work on the tenor line, next week we will do the same for the
other parts!

Chunk 2: And isn’t it fun to have the text as well? Start thinking about what this
song makes you think about.
 
 
Rehearsal 3 - Review Section A and repeat it in all the 
sections that are the  
same throughout the piece 
Time: (.5/.5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: ​Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to page 27 in your

music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: ​ Harmony and Review

Transition statement: First let’s review what we know already

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Time: (3/3.5/15) Activity 2: Tenor review

Chunk 1: Repeat 8 bars after me (on text signing do and so)

Chunk 2: Sing the whole thing

Chunk 3: Tenors sing their part and everyone else moves to melody
 
Transition statement: Now we can work on the other harmonies!

Time: (3/6.5/15) Activity 3: Bass part

Chunk 1: Repeat 4 bar sections after me on solfege (sign so and do)

Chunk 2: I sign the whole thing on text and they repeat

Time: (3/9.5/15) Activity 4: Alto Part

Chunk 1: Repeat 4 bar sections after me on solfege (sign so and do)

Chunk 2: I sign the whole thing on text and they repeat

Time: (5/14.5/15) Activity 4: Looping to solidify

Chunk 1: Everyone on alto part

Chunk 2: Sopranos move to soprano part
Chunk 3: Basses move to bass part
Chunk 4: Tenors Move to tenor part
Chunk 5: Everyone on bass part
Chunk 6: Sopranos move to soprano part
Chunk 7: Tenors move to tenor part
Chunk 8: Altos move to alto part

Time: (.5/15/15) Activity 6: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: These harmonies really came together

Next week we’ll look at the B section
 
Rehearsal 4 - B Sections - melody, harmony and text  
Time: (.5/.5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: ​Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to page 27 in your

music folder. My rehearsal threads today are:​ Review and Harmony

Time: (3/3.5/15) Activity 2: Review

Chunk 1: Loop A section, all on melody

Chunk 2: Altos move to part

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Chunk 3: Tenors move to part

Chunk 4: Basses move to part

 
Transition statement: Now let’s move on to that B section

Time: (1.5/5/15) Activity 3: Soprano Part

Chunk 1: Repeat whole line after me on solfege

Chunk 2: Sing whole line on text

Time: (2/7/15) Activity 4: Alto Part

Chunk 1: Repeat 4 bar phrases on solfege after me (sign do mi so)

Chunk 2: Repeat whole part on text (Sign so mi do) after me

Time: (2/9/15) Activity 5: Bass Part

Chunk 1: Repeat 4 bar phrases on solfege after me (sign do mi so)

Chunk 2: Repeat whole part on text (Sign so mi do) after me

Time: (2/11/15) Activity 6:Tenor Part

Chunk 1: Repeat 4 bar phrases on solfege after me (sign do mi so)

Chunk 2: Repeat whole part on text (Sign so mi do) after me

Time: (3.5/14.5/15) Activity 7: Looping!All on first verse text!

Chunk 1: Everyone sings entire melody all the way through

Chunk 2: Altos move...

Chunk 3: Tenors move..

Chunk 4: Basses move..

 
Transition statement: We have the whole thing! (Run it one more time one a
different verse for fun if time)

Time: (.5/15/15) Activity 8: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Now we have ALL the notes and a good start on text!

 
Rehearsal 5 – Review B for corrections, link A and B Sections, 
singing long  
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Chunks, review for meaning and expression 

Time: (.5/.5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: ​Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to page 27 in your

music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: r​eview and diction

Time: (3/3.515) Activity 2: Looping entire song

Chunk 1: Basses sing their part alone

Chunk 2: Add altos

Chunk 3: Add Tenors

Chunk 4: Add Sopranos

 
Transition statement: This is still really good let’s look at the other verses

Time: (3/6.5/15) Activity 3: Text of verse 2

Chunk 1: Repeat after me, 4 bar chunks, chanting

Chunk 2: Whole verse chanting

Chunk 3: Whole verse, on notes, text, I conduct

 
Transition statement: Let’s do the same for verse 3

Time: (3/9.5/15) Activity 5: Text of verse 3

Chunk 1: Repeat after me, 4 bar chunks, chanting

Chunk 2: Whole verse chanting

Chunk 3: Whole verse, on notes, text, I conduct

 
Transition statement: Let’s put it all together

Time: (5/14.5/15) Activity 5: Checking diction

Chunk 1: No parts of the diction are particularly tricky, but every choir has
quirks so we will stop and I will give the choir examples of good and bad
versions of diction.

Chunk 2: Run the whole piece! (time willing, if not, just new verses)

Time: (.5/15/15) Activity 6: Learning Summary

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Chunk 1: Now we have polished sound on the whole song!

 
Rehearsal 6 - What’s different or new?! Sections C & D & 
perfecting tone 
Time: (.5/.5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: ​Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to _page 27________

in your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: Review and inflection

Time: (3.5/4/15) Activity 2: Verse 1

Chunk 1: Choir sings whole verse and responds to conducting

Chunk 2: Repeat chanted melody like last week, but more emphasis on strong
beats/stressed syllables/words

Chunk 3: Write these spots in, use phrase markings, breath marks, tenutos

Chunk 4: sing whole verse again

Time: (3.5/8.5/15) Activity 3: Verse 2

Chunk 1: Choir sings whole verse and responds to conducting

Chunk 2: Repeat chanted melody like last week, but more emphasis on strong
beats/stressed syllables/words

Chunk 3: Write these spots in, use phrase markings, breath marks, tenutos

Chunk 4: sing whole verse again

Time: (3.5/12/15) Activity 4: Verse 3

Chunk 1: Choir sings whole verse and responds to conducting

Chunk 2: Repeat chanted melody like last week, but more emphasis on strong
beats/stressed syllables/words

Chunk 3: Write these spots in, use phrase markings, breath marks, tenutos

Chunk 4: sing whole verse again

Time: (2.5/14.5/15) Activity 5: Sing the whole thing!

Chunk 1: Sing it! Watch me for stress/emphasis on the chorus!

Time: (.5/15/15) Activity 6: Learning Summary

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Chunk 1: Now we have expressive phrase patterns in our song!

 
Rehearsal 7 - Review what’s different (Sections C & D) or new 
and link to A  
and B sections, if time, sing all the way through 
Time: (.5/.5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: ​Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to page 27 in your

music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: breathing, expression and
meaning

Time: (4/4.5/15) Activity 2: Review

Chunk 1: Review markings in music.

Chunk 2: Sing the whole thing! Watch me!

Time: (2/6.5/15) Activity 3: Checking on the chorus

Chunk 1: Markings to be put into the chorus...

Chunk 2: Sing once

 
Transition statement: Now that we have individual markings, let’s look a little
more large scale.

Time: (5/11.5/15) Activity 4: Large form and meaning

Chunk 1: “How does this song make you feel?”

My overarching adjectives for this song are peaceful and joyous

Chunk 2: Let’s try verse 1 joyously, watch my conducting

Chunk 3: Let’s try verse 2 peacefully

Chunk 4: Let’s try verse 3 peacefully and a little quieter

Chunk 5: Let’s run the chorus a few times, watch me for the “feelings”
associated with the sound we are making.

Time: (3/14.5/15) Activity 5: Run again

Chunk 1: Run it! and Watch!

Time: (.5/15/15) Activity 6: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Now we understand large form and meaning

 
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Rehearsal 8 - Sing all the way through, improving and 

perfecting tone and  
adding reminders about meaning 
Time: (.5/.5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: ​Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to page 27 in your

​ eaning and tone
music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: M

Time: (3/3.5/15) Activity 2: Reviewing meaning and form

Chunk 1: Let’s review some of the words we were using, choir says words, I
offer words as well

Chunk 2: Mark verse one “storytelling”, 2 “Peaceful” and 3 “joyous,” this is the
form I have in mind

Chunk 3: Let me see your facial expression to represent verse 1, now verse 2,
now verse 3.

Time: (4/7.5/15) Activity 3: Chorus meaning and expression

Chunk 1: Loop chorus and I change conducting speed dynamics etc...

 
Transition statement: We will keep trying these approaches as we sing.

Time: (3.5/11/15) Activity 4: Tone development and diction

Chunk 1: Repeat after me good and bad examples of various parts

Chunk 2: unsupported v. supported quiet singing, yelling v. full forte sound

Chunk 3: mumbly words v. clear diction

Time: (3/14/15) Activity 5: Run it

Time: (1/15/15) Activity 6: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: This song has come alive. Now we are beginning to realize all the
facets to making music.

Rehearsal 9 – Buzzwords to deepen expression, tone, and 

sophistication 
Time: (.5/.5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: ​Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to page 27 in your

music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: polishing and focus
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Time: (5.5/6/15) Activity 2: More tone development

Chunk 1: Repeat after me DIFFERENT good and bad examples of various parts
to drive concepts home

Chunk 2: unsupported v. supported quiet singing, yelling v. full forte sound

Chunk 3: mumbly words v. clear diction

Chunk 4: good and bad spots for catch breaths

Chunk 5: backspace

Time: (4.5/10.5/15) Activity 3: Run and fix

Chunk 1: Run

Chunk 2: Give good and bad examples of 3 things from run

Time: (3.5/14/15) Activity 4: Run!

Chunk 1: Think of three things to do better

Chunk 2: Run

Time: (1/14/15) Activity 5: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: You folks have gotten so much better at balancing these many aspects.
 
Rehearsal 10 - Run Fix Run 
Time: (.5/.5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: ​Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to page 27 in your

music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: polishing and focus

Time: (5/5.5/15) Activity 2: Run fix..

Chunk 1: Run

Chunk 2: Point of three things, breaths or expression (written markings)

Time: (5.5/11/15) Activity 3: Run fix...

Chunk 1: Run

Chunk 2: Point out three things, mental related, backspace, etc

Time: (3.5/14.5/15) Activity 4: Run...

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Chunk 1: Think about three things to improve

Chunk 2: ​Run

Time: (.5/15/15) Activity 5: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: We have a piece more than concert ready!!

 
 
 
Part II: ​PHILOSOPHY STATEMENTS LIST 
Directions: Pick 10 out of the 20 philosophy statements below and 
define them in 1-3 sentences. Please spend no longer than 20 
minutes on this portion of the exam. 
Philosophy Statement Definition
97% of what you teach is who you are.

Be the Music. We communicate through music. Our lives affect the

Controlling the environment that in turn
controls us.
Creating the culture that in turn creates the
community.
Cultivate FLOW and the culture will GROW!
way we communicate so out hearts and souls must
match the music we are making.
There are many ways you can create an environment
for success. The right culture and environment
develops a community where individualism is highly
valued and the group’s mission as a whole is clear as
well.

Curricularize the social and deliver highly

effective music curricula.
Everything is related to everything. Everything you ever learn can be applied and related
to other parts of your academia.
If it is meant to be, it is up to me.

JAHEES?​ ​SHRED’M! Certain attitudes and behaviors inhibit our work. It is

Learning occurs at the intersection of the
academic and the social.
Meet your students where they ARE, not where
you think they should be.
Positives come and go, negatives accumulate.
our job to avoid them and replace them with attitudes
that eliminate them in ourselves and others.
Music making is communication and social
connection makes us more able to communicate.
This must be balanced with our work.
Not addressing students’ needs and rather driving
ahead with a predetermined agenda means no one
gets what they need. If your goals for students are
student based, you can both succeed.
Positive feelings mean a lot to people, but they
require no second level of closure. Negatives mean a
lot to people as well, but they do require second level
of closure, “ok so how can I make this not
negative?”
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The Concert is the Celebration of What Has The concert showcases the work that has already
Already Happened. taken place.
What is your agenda?

When you know better, you do better. Preparation and knowledge leads to confidence and
better performance.
Whereever you go, there you are.

Who am I to judge?

Who claps for you?

Who do you want to be when you grow up?

You don’t know what you don’t know! We have to keeping trying to learn new concepts and
approaches to our musical careers because otherwise,
we’ll never know what we’re missing out on.